Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) completed a comprehensive 44-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on May 7. Punjab restricted Chennai to 187 for six in 20 overs as they were chasing a humongous 232-run target. Chennai were never realistically in the run-chase as they could not get any alarming momentum during their innings. The win has put Punjab on top of the IPL 7 Points Table on net run-rate. They now have 12 points after seven matches. That is equal with Chennai, who have played eight.

Faf du Plessis played an entertaining innings of 52 off 25 deliveries with seven fours and one six. Brendon McCullum scored off 29 deliveries 33 and Suresh Raina struck a 27-ball 35 for Chennai. It was actually a good effort from Dhoni’s team, but the target was too far for them. Mitchell Johnson took two wickets, but the Punjab bowlers in general were expensive on a batsman-friendly track.

Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum began the imposing run-chase for Chennai. Sandeep Sharma opened the bowling. Smith got of the mark with a chipped drive over extra-cover for a four. Sandeep then bowled a length delivery and Smith attempted a pull shot. But he only top-edged it to Mitchell Johnson at short third-man. Smith was out for four. Mitchell Johnson bowled the second over. He got a lot of movement off the track. Suresh Raina drove a full delivery from Sandeep in the air, but in the gap through extra-cover for his first four.

Johnson bowled a short delivery and Raina hit the ball over point for a four in the fourth over. Left-arm spinner Murali Karthik was brought into the attack in the fifth over before the powerplay overs had finished. McCullum moved to the leg side and hit one over extra-cover for a four. Raina then struck one over the bowler for a four down the ground. Raina finished the over with a four through cover off a full-toss. Sandeep was brought back into the attack in the sixth over. He bowled one on a length and Raina flicked the ball over deep mid-wicket for a six.

McCullum then came down the track and mishit one high in the air. Johnson ran back from mid-on but could not get his hands to the ball as it fell just in front of him. Glenn Maxwell was brought into the attack in the eighth over. Sensing an opportunity to score a few boundaries, Raina came down the track and hit one in the air towards long-off. But he did not get enough distance and was caught by David Miller who dived forward. Raina was out for 35 off 27 deliveries with three fours and one six. McCullum then took the onus upon himself to score the runs. He swept Maxwell past Virender Sehwag at short fine-leg for a four.

Jadeja struck two fours in the 10th over bowled by Maxwell. Rishi Dhawan came into the attack in the 11th over. He bowled a good length delivery and it beat Jadeja to clip the off-stump. There was confusion whether the ball had hit the stumps directly or whether the wicketkeeper flicked the bails. But replays showed that the ball struck the stumps directly. Jadeja was bowled for 17 runs. McCullum soon followed trying to complete a second run. Faf du Plessis turned one towards the leg side and set off for the second run. Johnson picked the ball and threw at the bowler’s end. He got a direct-hit and McCullum was run-out for 33 off 29 deliveries at the end of the 12th over.

Du Plessis came down the track and hammered one from Murali Karthik down the ground for a four. He then came forward again and flat-batted a length delivery through deep extra-cover for another four. The first ball of the 17th over bowled by Johnson was thumped for a six down the ground by du Plessis. Johnson then bowled a bouncer from over the wicket. Du Plessis got some glove onto it and the ball well over the wicketkeeper for a four. The last ball of the over was carted over wide mid-off for a four.

The South African then struck three fours in-a-row off Sandeep in the 18th over to bring up half half-century. But Johnson dismissed du Plessis in the 19th over for 52 off 25 deliveries. He played a scoop and gave a catch to Karthik at short fine-leg. Dhoni then whacked a length delivery from Johnson down the ground for a six. But Johnson got Dhoni with a short delivery. Dhoni mistimed his pull and George Bailey took the catch at mid-wicket. Dhoni was dismissed for 23 runs off 20 deliveries. In the end, Chennai reached a score of 187 for six in their 20 overs. But target proved too much for Dhoni and his side. Maxwell was the Man of the Match for his bludgeoning knock.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab were propelled to a total of 231 for four in their 20 overs thanks largely to Glenn Maxwell‘s 90 off 38 deliveries. Maxwell struck six fours and eight sixes in his magnificent innings. David Miller scored a brilliant 32-ball 47. The duo shared a 135-run partnership for the third wicket at a run-rate of 12.65. George Bailey struck a 13-ball unbeaten 40 with six fours and two sixes. This was after Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl.

(Shrikant Shankar is a writer/reporter at CricketCountry.com. Previously he has done audio commentary for various matches involving India, Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20 for ESPNSTAR.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Shrikant_23)

First Published on May 7, 2014 11:26 PM ISTLast updated on May 8, 2014 3:31 AM IST